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In the redshift range z = 0-1, the gamma ray burst (GRB) redshift distribution should increase rapidly because of increasing differential volume sizes and strong evolution in the star formation rate. This feature is not observed in the Swift redshift distribution and to account for this discrepancy, a dominant bias, independent of the Swift sensitivity, is required. Furthermore, despite rapid localization, about 40-50% of Swift and pre-Swift GRBs do not have a measured redshift. We employ a heuristic technique to extract this redshift bias using 66 GRBs localized by Swift with redshifts determined from absorption or emission spectroscopy. For the Swift and HETE+BeppoSAX redshift distributions, the best model fit to the bias in z < 1 implies that if GRB rate evolution follows the SFR, the bias cancels this rate increase. We find that the same bias is affecting both Swift and HETE+BeppoSAX measurements similarly in z < 1. Using a bias model constrained at a 98% KS probability, we find that 72% of GRBs in z < 2 will not have measurable redshifts and about 55% in z > 2. To achieve this high KS probability requires increasing the GRB rate density in small z compared to the high-z rate. This provides further evidence for a low-luminosity population of GRBs that are observed in only a small volume because of their faintness.
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Gamma-ray burst afterglow observations in the Swift era have a perceived lack of achromatic jet breaks compared to the BeppoSAX, or pre-Swift era. Specifically, relatively few breaks, consistent with jet breaks, are observed in the X-ray light curves of these bursts. If these breaks are truly missing, it has serious consequences for the interpretation of GRB jet collimation and energy requirements, and the use of GRBs as cosmological tools. Here we address the issue of X-ray breaks that are possibly `hidden and hence the light curves are misinterpreted as being single power laws. We do so by synthesising XRT light curves and fitting both single and broken power laws, and comparing the relative goodness of each fit via Monte Carlo analysis. Even with the well sampled light curves of the Swift era, these breaks may be left misidentified, hence caution is required when making definite statements on the absence of achromatic breaks.
We study time-resolved spectra of the prompt emission of Swift Gamma-ray bursts (GRB). Our goal is to see if previous BATSE claims of the existence of a large amount of spectra with the low energy photon indices harder than 2/3 are consistent with Swift data. We perform a systematic search of the episodes of the spectral hardening down to the photon indices below 2/3 in the prompt emission spectra of Swift GRBs. We show that the data of the BAT instrument on board of Swift are consistent with BATSE data, if one takes into account differences between the two instruments. Much lower statistics of the very hard spectra in Swift GRBs is explained by the smaller field of view and narrower energy band of the BAT telescope.
We systematically analyze three GRB samples named as radio-loud, radio-quiet and radio-none afterglows, respectively. It is shown that dichotomy of the radio-loud afterglows is not necessary. Interestingly, we find that the intrinsic durations ($T_{int}$), isotropic energies of prompt gamma-rays ($E_{gamma, iso}$) and redshifts ($z$) of their host galaxies are log-normally distributed for both the radio-loud and radio-quiet samples except those GRBs without any radio detections. Based on the distinct distributions of $T_{int}$, $E_{gamma, iso}$, the circum-burst medium density ($n$) and the isotropic equivalent energy of radio afterglows ($L_{ u,p}$), we confirm that the GRB radio afterglows are really better to be divided into the dim and the bright types. However, it is noticeable that the distributions of flux densities ($F_{host}$) from host galaxies of both classes of radio afterglows are intrinsically quite similar. Meanwhile, we point out that the radio-none sample is also obviously different from the above two samples with radio afterglows observed, according to the cumulative frequency distributions of the $T_{int}$ and the $E_{gamma, iso}$, together with correlations between $T_{int}$ and $z$. In addition, a positive correlation between $E_{gamma, iso}$ and $L_{ u,p}$ is found in the radio-loud samples especially for the supernova-associated GRBs. Besides, we also find this positive correlation in the radio-quiet sample. A negative correlation between $T_{int}$ and $z$ is confirmed to hold for the radio-quiet sample too. The dividing line between short and long GRBs in the rest frame is at $T_{int}simeq$1 s. Consequently, we propose that the radio-loud, the radio-quiet and the radio-none GRBs could be originated from different progenitors.
In this paper we address the question of whether existing X-ray observations of Seyfert galaxies are sufficiently sensitive to detect quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) similar to those observed in the X-ray variations of Galactic Black Holes (GBHs). We use data from XMM-Newton and simulated data based on the best RXTE long-term monitoring light curves, to show that if X-ray QPOs are present in Seyfert X-ray light curves - with similar shapes and strengths to those observed in GBHs, but at lower frequencies commensurate with their larger black hole masses - they would be exceedingly difficult to detect. Our results offer a simple explanation for the present lack of QPO detections in Seyferts. We discuss the improvements in telescope size and monitoring patterns needed to make QPO detections feasible. The most efficient type of future observatory for searching for X-ray QPOs in AGN is an X-ray All-Sky Monitor (ASM). A sufficiently sensitive ASM would be ideally suited to detecting low frequency QPOs in nearby AGN. The detection of AGN QPOs would strengthen the AGN-GBH connection and could serve as powerful diagnostics of the black hole mass, and the structure of the X-ray emitting region in AGN.
We present results of a calculation of absorption of 10-500 GeV gamma-rays at high redshifts. This calculation requires the determination of the high- redshift evolution of the full spectral energy distribution of the intergalactic photon field. For this, we have primarily followed the recent analysis of Fall, Charlot and Pei. We give our results for the gamma-ray opacity as a function of redshift out to a redshift of 3. We then give predicted gamma-ray spectra for selected blazars and also extend our results on the background from unresolved blazars to an energy of 500 GeV. Absorption effects are predicted to significantly steepen the background spectrum above 20 GeV. Our absorption calculations can be used to place limits on the redshifts of gamma-ray bursts. Our background calculations can be used to determine the observability of multi-GeV lines from dark matter neutralino particles.
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